2 Best Sights in Plymouth, The West Country

In the heart of the Barbican section, this former sea captain's home dating from 1599 offers a fascinating insight into how Plymouth residents lived over 350 years ago. The three floors of the timber-frame house are filled with items connected to the people who inhabited the house, including 17th-century furnishings, 18th-century wigs (the house once belonged to a wig-maker), and tea sets. You'll also see a reconstructed kitchen and a spiral staircase built around a ship's mast.

An exquisite 18th-century home with many of its original furnishings, Saltram was built around the remains of a late-Tudor mansion. Its jewel is one of Britain's grandest neoclassical rooms—a vast, double-cube salon designed by Robert Adam and hung with paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, who was born nearby in 1723. Fine plasterwork adorns many rooms, and three have original Chinese wallpaper. The outstanding garden includes rare trees and shrubs, and there's a cafeteria and a tearoom. Saltram is 3½ miles east of Plymouth city center; if you're driving, it's best to use "Romilly Gardens" rather than the postal code for satnav (GPS) purposes.